The spirit and skill of the FlashDog community is summed
up in the fantastic Anthology that was released last December. From a small
idea, the project grew and grew, fully rewarding the small group of writers who
stood up and dared to make something from nothing.

Being asked to contribute was an awesome moment. There’s
something really special about seeing your own work in print, something you can
show to people and say, ”see that story? I wrote that.” I felt validated.

Oddly what made it so good was that it wasn’t my own
personal project. You see, if I had just self-published my own novel or
collection, I don’t think I’d have felt as good. Don’t get me wrong, that moment
is still coming and it will be easily added to the list of my personal highlights.
But being included in something else meant people out ‘there’ thought enough of
my writing to want to put it into something they were working on.

It was just cool.

And now it’s happening all over again.

So, in four days time (Sunday 21st June you
will be able to purchase the FlashDogs Anthology (vol 2).

Now it’s time for the info dump.

This time round there is a common theme running through
the Anthology. While we all worked from a single prompt for the last book, a
lot of us also included other random stories where we were allowed free reign.
I myself submitted a Christmas story, a Super Hero story, plus a hightlight
from my Flash writing. An eclectic mix, to be sure.

This time we were given the overall theme of Solstice (hence
the release date) and this has been split into two halves; light and dark.
That’s right folks, we’re following the likes of the Twilight and Hunger Games
movies and splitting our sequel into two halves.

So, Solstice Light will contain your happier, more upbeat
stories, written to give you hope and perhaps show you the better side of
mankind.

Solstice Dark, on the other hand, will be filled with
darkness, depression and the kind of endings that people enjoy from Game of Thrones.

That’s not to say that one book will be all Disney and Rom
Com while the other is all Cronenberg and Tarantino. We have
a skilful band of writers in the FlashDog community and you can trust at least
some of them to slap your expectations in the face. Hard. Us FlashDogs know how
to twist a prompt to our own devious needs.

Last time round we all scrambled for the e-book as soon
as it was available so that we could dive in and see what the others had
brought to the table. While it was great to have our work out there for other
people to purchase and enjoy, there was just something so special when the
physical paperback version of the Anthology rolled around in the early months
of this year. This time, the paperback will be available day one alongside its
digital sibling. This is great news and I myself will be getting up early to
order a copy or two (and paying that little extra to Amazon so that it gets to
my doorstep quicker).

I have four stories going into this volume; two in
Solstice: Light and two in Solstice: Dark.

POTENTIAL

The first of my Light pieces, Potential, looks at the
bond between father and son during divorce. Despite a tough few years, things
are looking up for the pair until something strange, something dangerous,
threatens to tear them apart for good.

KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR

Set in the same world as TANKS FOR THE HELP (from
Anthology 1), this story takes a look at the crumbling world from a different
characters point of view, a woman who has fallen in with a bad crowd and fears
she will never be saved.

COST OF FREEDOM

The first Anthology story I finished for this project,
Cost of Freedom explores how far someone is willing to go to save the person
they love. What lines will they cross? What deals will they make?

MERELY OBSERVING

The little story that almost got let behind, Merely
Observing takes a comically dark look at an unknown threat to our world.
Perhaps we won’t even see it coming.

As before, the proceeds from the sales will be going to
charity. FDHQ has this time chosen The
Book Bus, a charity that helps bring books to children around the world who
don’t have access. After the necessities of life like food, water and shelter,
being able to read is something that can really change the lives of any human
being, young or old. You can find out more about The Book Bus here.

The book will be available this Sunday via Amazon (I will
be adding links across Twitter and this blog as soon as they’re up) so help a
charity and get a beautiful collection of fantastic stories for the trouble.

Before I go, a big, big thanks goes to the incredible
team over at FDHQ. Although they appear to be from beyond our realm, I’ve been
assured that they are mere mortals, just like us. They have jobs, families,
lives. And yet they somehow find the time to communicate, rally, organise, design,
and edit a project that is one hell of an undertaking. Without Tamara
Rogers, we wouldn’t have such good looking covers. Without Emily June Street, we wouldn’t
have consistent and professionally formatted stories. Without Mark A. King we wouldn't even have
a project to work on. And without Lord
David Shakes, we wouldn’t have whip marks and malnutrition.

And let’s not forget, without the FlashDogs, we wouldn’t have the best Flash
Fiction community in the whole wide world.

For a better look at the mad men behind this project,
check out Rebecca Postupak’s interview over at Flash!
Friday.